Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX:CBA) announced it will axe approximately 300 positions across its retail, business, and institutional divisions, sparking a sharp rebuke from the Finance Sector Union despite the bank's simultaneous launch of a massive retraining initiative.
The redundancies primarily target technology roles as the nation's largest lender navigates an aggressive transition toward artificial intelligence.
To mitigate the impact, CEO Matt Comyn unveiled the "Future Workforce" program—a $90 million, three-year investment designed to reskill staff for "higher-impact" roles requiring human judgment and empathy.
Under the initiative, displaced workers can access a "Grow Your Career" portal and a four-week voluntary placement program to trial vacant internal roles.
"We are determined to help our people develop the right capabilities," Comyn said, noting the bank must adapt as technology reshapes the economy.
However, the timing has drawn fire from the FSU, coming just weeks after CBA posted a market-beating $5 billion half-year profit.
FSU National Secretary Julia Angrisano labelled the cuts "totally unacceptable," citing a recent survey where 72% of CBA employees expressed fear over job security.
The FSU is expected to launch a fresh campaign tomorrow demanding enforceable job protections as enterprise agreement negotiations commence.
While CBA maintains the cuts are part of a "regular review," the move signals a definitive shift in how the banking giant balances record-breaking profitability with the rapid automation of its back-end operations.